Zhaozhou was originally a small town called Chuhedian more than 30 years ago, and the reason why it became famous was that in the fourth year of Liao Tianqing, the leader of the Jurchen tribe Wanyan Agu, who had been bullied by the Liao State for a long time, had already had the heart to oppose Liao, and first attacked the Liao-controlled Jurchens' outpost - Ningjiang Prefecture, and won in one fell swoop and opened the passage to attack Liao. Liao Emperor Yelu Yanxi summoned his ministers to mobilize more than 100,000 troops from all walks of life, and led troops out of Hedian, intending to attack the Jurchen army from the north bank of the Yazi River and eliminate Aguta in one fell swoop.

Aguta learned of the gathering of Liao soldiers and decided to take the initiative. He personally led 3,700 soldiers along the right bank of the Songhua River and walked halfway along the right bank of the Songhua River, and the soldiers camped on the spot at night, and he couldn't sleep, thinking that he only had 3,700 men, but he had to face 100,000 Liao soldiers, and if he wanted to win, he had to launch an attack by surprise. After a comprehensive analysis of the military situation, he believed that if he wanted to live and win, he must set off tonight to cross the river overnight and attack the Liao army.

At that time, the winter was cold and cold. The Jurchen soldiers, who were sleepy and lacking horses, stood among the lanterns and torches, all with resentment, and heard that there were 100,000 Liao soldiers, and they were panicked. Seeing this, Ah Guda used the Shamanic dream Buzhi that the Jurchens believed in the most to stabilize and encourage the army. He said that I had received a hint from God in a dream that we would be able to win a great victory if we raised our troops overnight, otherwise we would be destroyed, and after listening to his words, the morale of the soldiers was greatly increased, and thousands of iron horsemen rode the wind and snow to the river.

At dawn, the Jurchen army marched to the river and found that a small number of Liao soldiers were destroying the road on the ice, and Aguta immediately sent elite soldiers to seize the opportunity and rush over to destroy them, and the army then launched a fierce attack on the Liao soldiers on the other side of the river. At this time, the strong wind suddenly rose and the thick fog was filled, and the Liao soldiers were caught off guard and could not form an army, and the Jurchen soldiers took advantage of the situation to pursue and win a great victory, and captured a large number of heavy armor. The number of troops has also increased several times.

The Battle of Chuhedian can be compared to the Battle of Chibi during the Three Kingdoms period and the Battle of Huangshui in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. All of them are glorious examples of winning more with less in history, which makes the Jurchen army stronger. The greater military prestige created a prerequisite for the establishment of the Dajin Kingdom in the future. Therefore, Chuhedian is equivalent to the Shangqiu of the Great Song Dynasty, which also became the foundation of the emperor's industry after Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe was added, first promoted to Yingtianfu, and then promoted to Nanjing. In the eighth year of Jintianhui, Wu Qimai decreed that "the Taizu soldiers defeated the Liao Zhaoji Wang Ji and built it as a state here", and the river store was changed to Zhaozhou, which became a place with a very special meaning......

The military is the product of political struggle, but once the political government completely dominates the military, what is obtained is often a catastrophe. The strategy of 'shrinking defense and exchanging space for time' put forward by Arubu at this meeting is said to be in line with the current military situation. Tong Guò constantly threw the burden on the Song army, which increased the logistical pressure, and the guide zhì was slow to act, making it difficult to complete the Northern Expedition before the severe cold arrived. The soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty could not adapt to the bitter cold here, and their combat effectiveness was sharply reduced, but the Jurchens fully adapted to the climate here, and just took advantage of this to launch a counteroffensive and seize their logistics supply base, so that the Song army could retreat in vain.

According to the idea of Arubu and others, they should take the initiative to withdraw from Zhaozhou and station troops at the ferry ports along the Tongjiang River. The water was used as a risk to prevent the Song army from crossing the river. Fortunately, the Song army on the western road did not have a naval division to help the battle, so they could only erect pontoon bridges to force the Yazi River, so that it was difficult for them to give full play to their advantages in artillery, and their own side still had a certain chance of winning in Bandu by waiting for the enemy. At the very least, it can be temporarily guaranteed.

Now Wushu has suddenly proposed that Zhaozhou, where 'Taizu won the land of the king of Liao Zhaoji', must be kept, which is contrary to the strategic policy just agreed upon, and it is already a complete political battle. It's to fight for the face of the Kim country. And the sentence of Wushu can only win and not defeat determines that a large number of troops will be invested in this battle, and the enemy will be fought to the end at any cost for a small city that has no strategic and tactical value. It also subverted the principle of military use.

This victory is good to say, not only can it repel the Song army's Western Route Army. Relieving the pressure on the capital can also greatly boost the morale of the army and the people, which is conducive to future operations; However, if it is defeated, the consequences will be very severe, so that the last elite of the Jin State will be consumed in a tactical operation that is not beneficial to the entire battlefield, and the Song army can cross the Mingtong River along the lì and hit the old nest of the Wanyan Division, forcing itself to abandon the defense of the south and concentrate its forces to defend the Beijing division. The problem is that the Song army is menacing, and it has not tasted defeat in attacking the city and plundering the land, so everyone is very vague about whether it can create the miracle of the past in Zhaozhou.

But now that Dajin Guo has spoken with a vulture that covers the sky with one hand, although a few people know that they can't do it, no one dares to raise objections, and they have to be wise and wise, so they must be able to save Dajin Guo and be worthy of the difficulties of Taizu's entrepreneurship back then. Therefore, the Zhaozhou battle plan was introduced, and the battle will be presided over by Wanyan Yanying, the deputy commander of the internal and external capitals, and the elite near the Beijing division will be mobilized to participate in the battle in order to achieve a complete victory......

…………

After the defeat of the enemy of the enemy's right marshal's mansion, the Zhao Li group has been wandering in the grassland area, and after the rainy season came, because the road was difficult to travel, and the river water swelled, they moved to Baimaluo near Changchun Prefecture to rest, where the water and grass are abundant and can be grazing, and it is convenient to supply nearby, and the armies get full rest. After the Southern Route Army captured Liaoyang Mansion, it opened up the post road connecting Shenzhou with Changchun Prefecture, so that the two divisions no longer traveled to Pingzhou and Dading to transmit the news, and now it only takes three days to reach the transmission of 800 miles, and it is more convenient for the two divisions to cooperate in combat.

After recovering the entire territory of Liaoyang Prefecture, the Southern Route Army began the battle to attack the Jinguo Xiangan Road after resting and recuperating, and the progress was very smooth. However, the emperor thought that the Jin army was shrinking its defenses, concentrating its forces in preparation for a decisive battle with his own side, or using tactics to lure the enemy deeper into lengthening his supply lines, thus forcing them to slow down their march. Now that the arrival of winter in the northeast is less than three months away, the Western Route Corps was ordered to speed up the offensive to threaten the enemy's Beijing Division, attract enemy troops, make it dare not move south, and reduce the offensive pressure of the South Route Corps.

At the same time, the emperor ordered Zhao Li to capture Zhaozhou, gain a foothold on the north bank of the Mingtong River, and cross the river to capture Yichun as a bridgehead to capture Huining Province. Then start an operation to clear the outlying strongholds of Huining Province, and launch a decisive battle after the arrival of the Southern Route Army. This operation was still based on the principle of annihilating the enemy's living forces, with the intention of weakening the enemy's defensive strength, but it also warned Zhao Lihui that Ningfu was the birthplace of the Jurchens, and that resistance would be more tenacious, and that they must fight steadily and steadily, and not rush forward, so as not to suffer unnecessary losses.

After Zhao Li received the order, he left an infantry brigade of the 3,000 State Army and the Lion Wing Army to stay in Changchun Prefecture, where a large amount of grain, grass and heavy ammunition were hoarded, and it was the most advanced supply base of the Western Route Army. The Desert Army, which was a reserve, entered the 800-li dry land in the south of Changchun Prefecture to prevent enemy troops from penetrating from here, and at the same time to protect the right flank of the army; He then took the lion as the vanguard. The Krup Army, the remnants of the Leopard Wing Army and the Dragon General and the two artillery brigades are the middle army, and the Dragon Wing Army is the rearguard; The Mughal Cavalry and the Chasers were the left flank to drive out the harassing enemy. Detect military intelligence.

After the departure of the army, the baggage of the accompanying army was transported by water, in parallel with the marching brigade on the north bank of the river, which could ensure safety even in terms of supplies. However, the combat operation destined to penetrate deep into the hinterland of the enemy army was destined to be different from the past, and the army had just left Changchun City less than 100 miles before the Jin army rangers appeared on the left and right, and they were like a swarm of flies as long as there was a gap to take advantage of, and they were even more rampant when camping at night, which can be described as three shocks in one night.

While ordering the cavalry hunters to launch a cavalry operation against the enemy, Zhao Li ordered all armies to send patrols to strengthen their vigilance. The baggage flotilla of the waterways camped at night to prevent the enemy from intruding, and ordered the vanguard to clear the obstacles. In this way, the speed of the march did not decrease, and it quickly approached the city of Zhaozhou......

"Recently, the Jin army has been harassing our marching brigade more and more frequently, which is very different from their usual practice of active defense, and we should be vigilant." After several days of marching, the Song army brigade was less than fifty miles away from the city of Zhaozhou, and the scouts of the vanguard were already approaching within ten miles of the city. Zhao Li convened the generals of the army after dinner.

"Marshal, the scouts have reported for several days that the Jin army in Huining Mansion is moving frequently, and there are signs of coming to the aid of Zhaozhou." The intelligence department commander Shanghu confirmed his speech.

"What changes have been made to the forces in Zhaozhou?" Zhao Li asked.

"The main defensive force of Zhaozhou is still the three hereditary Meng'ans of Guo Erros, Wusu, and Shilie, and they recruited Ding Zhuang from their respective clans into the army. This brought the total strength to five thousand, and no reinforcements arrived. Shang Hu replied.

"Marshal, does Jin Jun want to give up Zhaozhou? What about concentrating our forces on the south bank of the mixed river to prevent us from crossing the river? Dading pacified Zheng Ping analyzed.

"If the enemy retreats to the south bank, defend with all your might. We crossed the river without the support of the navy, which was very troublesome indeed. Zhang Ting, the commander of the Dragon Wing Army, said.

"Hmm. But if the enemy army wants to retreat to the south bank, why there is no sign of retreat in Zhaozhou, but is still strengthening the city defenses and constantly sending troops to attack and harass, isn't it too strange? The commander of the cavalry hunting army, Ba Zhouwu, said that he had recently felt that the Jin army that had been harassed had become more frequent and tenacious, often regardless of casualties, which was very different from the scene of fleeing from the wind in the past.

"I also feel that something is wrong, in the past, the Jin army often fought in the front of the Khitan, Xi people, Han people, these miscellaneous armies used as cannon fodder, and now most of the troops engaged in the battle are composed of Jurchens and Bohai people, and the battle is a bit of the ruthlessness of the Jin army in the past, and it still dares to charge in the face of dense bullet rain, no less than the loyal guards and pro-army." Jiang Wei, the leader of the lion general, nodded, as the vanguard, they had fought more than ten battles with the enemy army, and they felt the most empathy.

"At the beginning of the Agu Army, he felt that there was a lack of troops, in addition to constantly annexing other departments, he also played the banner of 'Jurchen and Bohai are one family', and now the Bohai people have almost completely integrated into the Jurchens, so these should be the most effective troops in the Jin State. And Jin Jun's willingness to use the last elite to entangle with us seems to be not as simple as just delaying our attack, but more like preparing for a big battle with us. "Zheng Ping has been guarding the Songjin frontier for many years as a border commander, and he still knows them very well.

"Zhaozhou was the battle of the opening of the Jin State, and Aguda defeated the Liao army with 3,000 or 100,000 victories, and Wushu must have considered that if he did not fight a battle here, it would damage the prestige of the country, and if he could reproduce the glory of his father, the impact would be self-evident, so I consider that the various abnormal behaviors of the Jin army are intended to fight with us here." Zhao Li analyzed what the generals said.

"In that case, why didn't the Jin army brigade cross the river into Zhaozhou, but only assembled on the riverbank, did they think that only the 5,000 defenders of Zhaozhou could block the attack of our 100,000 army? Maybe it's just to show the courage of the Jurchens! Zheng Ping shook his head and said, not agreeing with Zhao Li's analysis.

"According to the information transferred from the Intelligence Department, Yan Yanying, the deputy commander of the internal and external affairs of the Jin State, has been ordered to command the Beijing Division and the pro-army has left the Beijing Division, and everyone thinks that it is possible that he will preside over the Battle of Zhaozhou this time." Shang Hu said at this time.

"Well, Wanyan Yanying can be said to be the leader of the new generation of generals of the Jin Kingdom, and it is said that he is skilled in arching and horses, quite resourceful, and deeply favored by Wushu. He had subdued his army on the south bank, and it was very likely that he had learned the lessons of the previous battles, and understood that it was difficult to defeat our army in both field and defensive battles. Zhao Li touched his chin and said. They know very little about Wanyan Yanying, and the only battle he fought with the Song army was to pursue the retreating Song army in the battle of Goryeo, but he fled in ambush, and never fought with the Song army again, so he knew very little about the strategy of using troops, and he didn't know the characteristics of its operations, but he knew that the person who could make Wushu look at it was definitely not a simple person.

"Dashuai, the last general thinks that Wanyan Yanying is unwilling to cross the river for a long time, and he must be worried that once he is defeated, there will be no way out, so he is sitting and watching, or there are other plans." Zheng Ping thought for a while and said, for the Jin army, crossing the river to come to aid is not the best policy, and it is too hurtful to surrender without a fight.

"Now that my 100,000 army is rolling forward, there is no gap at all, and he can help me with tricks, we just need to respond to all changes with the same, and go straight to Zhaozhou according to the plan to see how it responds, and we can see the move when the time comes, and we can't stop moving forward because we can't touch its reality and reality!" The dragon general ruled Li Gongyan said.

"Yes, one force will drop ten, no matter what trick he uses, it is a punch in the chest, as long as he is hit by us, he can kill him, even if he plays a flower, what can he do?" Zhang Shengkui, the commander of the Kryu Army, said that this method may seem stupid, but it is also the easiest way to solve the problem.

"Yes, I only go to one place no matter how many things he comes, kill God when he meets God, kill Buddha when he meets Buddha!" Bao Gang, the commander of the Lion Wings, agreed.

"Okay, then let's fight steadily, step by step, hit Zhaozhou first, and see their reaction," Zhao Li thought for a while and said, now that we can't judge the enemy's intentions, let's try its depth.

The next day, the Song army hit the road again, narrowing the distance between the armies so that they could reinforce each other, and sending additional scouts to expand the search area to a hundred miles away, so as to prevent the enemy from outflanking from both flanks in a detouring way. At the same time, the Military Intelligence Department was ordered to closely monitor the movements of the enemy brigade on the south bank of the Yazi River, and to find out the enemy's troop deployment and fortification at various crossings, so as to prepare for the next river crossing operation...... (To be continued......)